Provisional License FAQs

An applicant must have a degree in social work from a program accredited by the Council on Social Work Education (CSWE) or the Canadian Association of Schools of Social Work and complete the application requirements for a provisional license.

No, a provisional license applicant must have a degree in social work which has been conferred before applying.

Application and license fees for provisional licenses are the same as fees for standard licenses. Fees are determined by the legislature and can be found in Minnesota Statutes 148E.180.

A provisional license is effective for 3 years, or until the Board determines you have completed all provisional license requirements - whichever date comes first. If a provisional licensee has not completed the required supervision hours within the 3-year period, a new application for a provisional license can be submitted after the expiration date.

No, a social worker must be licensed before beginning social work practice.

Yes, a provisional licensee can apply to take a licensure exam while completing the provisional license requirements or after the licensee has completed the provisional requirements.

Yes, there are separate requirements and fees for an exam-based application and a provisional license application.

Some provisional licensees have experience difficulties becoming credentialed with Managed Care Organizations (MCO). Currently, the Interstate Compact requires the licensee to pass the national qualifying exam to be issued a multistate license when it becomes available.

In all professional use of the social worker's name, an individual with a baccalaureate or graduate provisional license must represent themselves as a Provisional License Baccalaureate Social Worker, Provisional License Graduate Social Worker, Provisional Licensed Independent Social Worker, or Provisional Licensed Independent Clinical Social Worker. An individual with a provisional license must not use the credentials LSW, LGSW, LISW, or LICSW until the individual has a license under section MS 148E.055.

Currently, the compact statutory language requires applicants to pass the national qualifying exam to be eligible for a multistate license. Additional information will be available when the compact commission establishes rules and procedures. Social Work Licensure Compact Legislation

A provisional licensee must complete 2000 hours of supervised practice and 37.5 hours of supervision. This is 3 hours of supervision during every 160 hours of practice. Half of the supervision hours must be one-to-one supervision and half could be either one-to-one or group supervision. Supervision must be either in person or via eye-to-eye electronic media while maintaining visual contact. A provisional licensee has up to 3 years to complete the supervised practice requirements.

A supervision plan must be submitted no later than 30 days after the licensee begins a social work practice position. If you work more than one social work position, you must submit a Supervision Plan to the Board for each social work practice position.

A revised supervision plan must be received by the Board within 30 days of changes to the licensee’s employer, job title, job description, number of hours worked, supervisor, method of supervision, or hours of supervision.

A licensing supervisor can be someone within your agency or employer or outside of it. Your licensing supervisor does not need to be your administrative supervisor at your job but can be someone that you contract with for the specific purpose of supervision. Utilize your professional network to find a licensing supervisor—you might consider a partner agency, a professional organization, or perhaps your academic institution as resources. You can also use the Board's Public License Lookup to search for eligible licensing supervisors, however, keep in mind this resource is only intended to provide a list of licensed social workers who have attested to meeting the requirements of a licensing supervisor and does not mean the individual is available to provide licensing supervision.

Up to 25% of your supervised practice requirement may be provided by an alternate licensing supervisor, which is a "mental health professional" as defined in Minnesota Statutes sections 245.462 and 245.4871 who is qualified to provide supervision according to their licensing board, including:

• Registered psychiatric nurse
• Licensed psychologist
• Psychiatrist
• Licensed marriage and family therapist
• Licensed professional clinical counselor

 Up to 100% of your supervised practice requirement may be completed with an alternate supervisor if one of the following applies:

• There are 5 or fewer licensed social workers in the county where the supervisee practices (go to Public License Lookup and check the 'Licensing Supervisor' option and select your county to determine the number of eligible licensing supervisors by county)
• The supervisor is an unlicensed social worker who is employed in, and provides supervision in, a setting exempt from licensure and has equivalent qualifications
• The supervisor is a social worker engaged in authorized social work practice in a state or province surrounding Minnesota
• The licensee is engaged in authorized social work practice outside of Minnesota and the supervisor meets equivalent qualifications

Noncompliance with license requirements is investigated by the Board, and the Board’s Compliance Panels may recommend disciplinary or corrective action for noncompliance with supervised practice and supervision documentation requirements.

If a licensee completes all the provisional supervised practiced hours, supervision hours, and submits a satisfactory supervisor evaluation, the licensee is eligible to submit a Provisional to Standard License Application.

No, fill out the Application for Licensure: Provisional to Standard and submit using Online Services or download the form and mail to the Board of Social Work.

Yes, a licensee must complete the supervised practice hours and supervision hours required for the standard license.

A supervisor must complete 30 hours of training in supervision and have the eligible license type to provide supervision to a provisional licensee.

• Standard LSW who has completed supervised practice requirement may supervise another LSW (provisional or standard).
• Standard LGSW may supervise and LSW
• Standard LGSW who has completed their supervised practice requirement may supervise another LGSW in nonclinical practice
• Standard LISW or Standard LICSW may supervise an LSW or LGSW in nonclinical practice

• Standard LICW who has completed 2000 hours of post-LICSW social work practice, including 1000 hours in clinical practice may supervise an LGSW or LISW in clinical practice.